LAS CRUCES, N.M. – The road swing continues for the New Mexico State men's basketball team as it heads to the Island of Oahu for the 2017 Hawaiian Airlines Diamond Head Classic (Dec. 22, 23 & 25) at the Stan Sheriff Center.
 
The first test for NM State in Honolulu will come at 9 p.m. (MT) on Friday, Dec. 22, when it faces Davidson on ESPNU. Roxy Bernstein will have the call for Friday's game while former Virginia standout and NBA veteran Cory Alexander serves as the analyst.
 
GET CONNECTED
Get up to the minute information and news about the NM State men's basketball team all season on Twitter and Instagram by following @NMStateMBB and on Facebook at FB.com/NMStateMBB.
 
LISTEN UP!
Aggie fans that don't make it to Hawaii for Friday's contest can catch the game by listening to NM State Athletics/US Bank Hall of Famer Jack Nixon on 99.5 Zia Country and affiliate stations on the Aggie Sports Network listed below.
 
Alamogordo      103.7 FM KNMZ
Albuquerque     1150 AM KNMM
Carlsbad            1240 AM KAMQ
El Paso              1380 AM KHEY
Gallup                1230 AM, 94.9 FM KYVA
Las Vegas          107.1 FM KMDS
 
ENTER THE WILDCATS
When New Mexico State and Davidson take the court on Friday evening, it'll be the first time the two programs face off. The Wildcats enter the game 4-4 on the year, recently falling to then-No. 16/16 Virginia on the road. The team's long win away from its home floor came against Charlotte, 85-70.
 
The Wildcats are led by coaching veteran Bob McKillop, who is in his 29th season at the helm with Davidson. McKillop owns a 537-332 career record, all with Davidson. The Wildcats have had great success the last six seasons, posting 20-plus wins in five of the last six campaigns – including three NCAA Tournament appearances and two NIT berths.
 
Senior Peyton Aldridge paces Davidson with 21.5 points per game on top of a team-best 6.9 rebounds per game. The 6-8 forward also leads the team with 21 made 3-pointers with a .356 shooting clip from downtown and second on the squad with 31 assists. Aldridge become the 16th player in school history to record 1,500 points just two games into the season thanks to a career-high 37 points (26 in the first half) in Davidson's 108-81 win over in-state foe UNC Wilmington. That performance also earned him co-player of the week honors.
 
 Jon Gudmundsson is second on the team in scoring with 16.4 points per game and as well as second on boards with 5.5 rebounds per game. The 6-4 guard leads the team with 44 assists and 13 steals – including a team-best 53-percent (min. 60 FGA). His 19 made triples is just two shy from Aldridge while his .404 shooting clip from beyond the arc is second as well. The versatile guard was named the Atlantic 10 Player of the Week after nearly missing a triple-double in the team's season-opening 110-62 win against Charleston Southern with 24 points, nine rebounds and eight assists.
 
Kellan Grady rounds out the list of double-digit scorers for the Wildcats with 13.9 points per game. The freshman guard has started all eight games to start his career, boasting a .451 shooting clip and third on the team with 18 triples. Like the Aldridge and Gudmundsson, Grady has clocked 240-plus minutes of action on the floor.
 
Coming off the bench and logging significant minutes for the Wildcats are Rusty Reigel (6.8ppg) and Will Magarity (6.4ppg).
 
IN THE NATION
Through game son Dec. 18, NM State is ranked 17th in rebounding margin (9.5). Meanwhile Jemerrio Jones is ranked in the top-25 in several rebounding categories including…
 
Category                                          Value         NCAA Rank
Rebounds/game                                11.6                  6th*
Total Rebounds                                  128                  4th*
Offensive Rebounds/game                4.09                  8th*
Double-Doubles                                   7                    T7th*
Triple-Doubles                                     1                    T1st*
Defensive Rebounds/game               7.55                 18th*
 
LOFTON COLLECTS SECOND POW HONOR
Back-to-back 20-plus point games last week saw New Mexico State men's basketball guard Zach Lofton earn Western Athletic Conference Player of the Week honors on Monday the league announced.
 
The St. Paul, Minn., native averaged 26 points and 3.0 rebounds last week, guiding the Aggies to a pair of wins over Eastern New Mexico at home and Illinois at the United Center. This is the second weekly honor for Lofton and for NM State through six weeks of play.
 
In NM State's final home game of the 2017 calendar year, the grad transfer went off for 29 points on 11-of-16 shooting against the Greyhounds – including a 4-of-8 night from beyond the arc. He then capped things off on Saturday with 23 points, four rebounds, two assists and a steal in NM State's win over the Illini.
 
At week's end, Lofton shot 58.3-percent from the floor (21-of-36) and 50-percent from 3-point range (7-for-14) to go with a pair of assists and steals.
 
DÉJÀ VU
For the second year in a row, NM State has started the season 9-2 and we all know what happened last season for the Aggies. A 20-game winning-streak ensued that bled deep into the conference season and ended up being the third-longest streak in NCAA last year behind Gonzaga and Vermont.
 
A LEAGUE OF THEIR OWN
New Mexico State is just 1-of-8 schools in the west to have won at least 20 games in each of the last five seasons. The other seven? Arizona, BYU, Gonzaga, Oregon, Saint Mary's and UC Irvine.
 
Meanwhile, NM State is also sixth amongst western schools with 100-plus wins from 2012-13 through the 2016-17 campaign.
 
Gonzaga                              157
Arizona                                149
Oregon                                138
Saint Mary's                         129
San Diego State                   128
New Mexico State               124
BYU                                      120
UCLA                                    119
UC Irvine                              114
Colorado State                     111
Utah                                     109
Boise State                          107
Weber State                         107
New Mexico                         105
Cal                                       105
Colorado                              104
Hawaii                                 101
Wyoming                             100
 
LAST TIME OUT
New Mexico State reeled off one of its better performances of the year last Saturday on the big stage and under the lights of the United Center when it fought back to defeat Illinois 74-69. Led by Zach Lofton's game-high 23 points and AJ Harris' 16 points. Harris scored seven of NM State's final 16 points in the last six minutes of action, going 3-for-3 from the floor – including and and-1 opportunity that put the Aggies ahead 72-69.
 
Jemerrio Jones continued to play at his high-level, scoring 11 points with 13 rebounds for his seventh double-double of the year while Eli Chuha chipped in with 11 points and five rebounds of his own in the victory.
 
On a night where both the Aggies and Illini gathered to honor legendary head coach Lou Henson, it was only fitting that New Mexico State was able to pull of its first victory against a Big Ten Conference opponent since Henson last did it during the 2004-05 campaign.
 
UP NEXT
For the second game of the tournament, New Mexico State will either play No. 6/7 Miami or the hometown team, Hawaii. Should the Aggies win on Friday, they'll play on Saturday at 8 p.m. (MT) on ESPN2 and will play at 10:30 p.m. (MT) on ESPNU should they lose the opener against the Wildcats.